Appeal to Love

Daily Devotional • December 5

A Reading from Amos 5:1-7

1 Hear this word that I take up over you in lamentation, O house of Israel:

2 Fallen, no more to rise,

    is maiden Israel;

forsaken on her land,

    with no one to raise her up.

3 For thus says the Lord God:

The city that marched out a thousand

    shall have a hundred left,

and that which marched out a hundred

    shall have ten left.

4 For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel:

Seek me and live,

5     but do not seek Bethel,

and do not enter into Gilgal

    or cross over to Beer-sheba,

for Gilgal shall surely go into exile,

    and Bethel shall come to nothing.

6 Seek the Lord and live,

    or he will break out against the house of Joseph like fire,

    and it will devour Bethel, with no one to quench it.

7 Ah, you who turn justice to wormwood

    and bring righteousness to the ground!

8 The one who made the Pleiades and Orion

    and turns deep darkness into the morning

    and darkens the day into night,

who calls for the water of the sea

    and pours it out on the surface of the earth,

the Lord is his name,

9 who makes destruction flash out against the strong,

    so that destruction comes upon the fortress.

10 They hate the one who reproves in the gate,

    and they abhor the one who speaks the truth.

11 Therefore because you trample on the poor

    and take from them levies of grain,

you have built houses of hewn stone,

    but you shall not live in them;

you have planted pleasant vineyards,

    but you shall not drink their wine.

12 For I know how many are your transgressions

    and how great are your sins—

you who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe

    and push aside the needy in the gate.

13 Therefore the prudent will keep silent in such a time,

    for it is an evil time.

14 Seek good and not evil,

    that you may live,

and so the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you,

    just as you have said.

15 Hate evil and love good,

    and establish justice in the gate;

it may be that the Lord, the God of hosts,

    will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.

16 Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the Lord:

In all the squares there shall be wailing,

    and in all the streets they shall say, “Alas! Alas!”

They shall call the farmers to mourning

    and those skilled in lamentation to wailing;

17 in all the vineyards there shall be wailing,

    for I will pass through the midst of you,

            says the Lord.

Meditation

In the beginning of today’s lesson, there is a heart-rending expression that can easily pass by unnoticed: “Fallen, no more to rise, is the virgin Israel.” The tenor of Amos’s prophecy has changed, abruptly and almost dramatically. From the initial fury and threats, to “follow your own way if that’s what you want,” to the listing of impending disasters, we come to the heartbreaking appeal of immortal fatherly love. It is described as a “lamentation.” 

Only one who loves can lament. Up to now, Israel’s sins and multiple outrages have been named and loudly publicized in tones of anger; but now Israel is described as “virgin.” God presents himself as the loving father of a young daughter who has gone wrong. His fury is now seen as deep, deep hurt, and his love for his daughter is rooted in his love for his child when she was small. 

This lesson is filled with appeals: “Seek me and live…seek the Lord and live.” The appeal comes from the heart: “Seek good, and not evil, that you may live, and so the Lord, the God of hosts will be with you.” The same appeal is unrelenting in Scripture: “All day long I have held out my hands to an obstinate people, who walk in ways not good, pursuing their own imagination” (Is. 65:2). “I stand at the door and knock” (Rev. 3:20). “How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her chicks beneath her wings, but you were not willing” (Matt. 23:37).   

Today’s lesson is about an undying love of a father for his wayward child. He is remembering times past, when she was young, humble, and obedient, and in his love still sees her that way, and he wants her back in his arms no matter what.

♱

Daily Devotional Cycle of Prayer
Today we pray for:

David Baumann